Applied

Thermodynamics
ME F217
BITS Pilani Prof. Satish K Dubey
Hyderabad Campus

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 VAPOR AND COMBINED POWER CYCLES

McGraw-Hill | 2
 Objectives
• Analyze vapor power cycles in which the working fluid is
alternately vaporized and condensed.
• Investigate ways to modify the basic Rankine vapor power
cycle to increase the cycle thermal efficiency.
• Analyze the reheat and regenerative vapor power cycles.
• Perform second-law analysis of vapor power cycles.
• Analyze power generation coupled with process heating called
cogeneration.
• Analyze power cycles that consist of two separate cycles
known as combined cycles.

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THE CARNOT VAPOR CYCLE
1-2 isothermal heat addition in a boiler
2-3 isentropic expansion in a turbine
3-4 isothermal heat rejection in a condenser
4-1 isentropic compression in a compressor
The Carnot cycle is the most efficient cycle operating
between two specified temperature limits but it is not a
suitable model for power cycles. Because:
Process 1-2 Limiting the heat transfer processes to
two-phase systems severely limits the maximum
temperature that can be used in the cycle (374°C for
water)
Process 2-3 The turbine cannot handle steam with a
high moisture content because of the impingement of
liquid droplets on the turbine blades causing erosion
and wear.
Process 4-1 It is not practical to design a compressor
that handles two phases.
The cycle in (b) is not suitable since it requires
isentropic compression to extremely high pressures
and isothermal heat transfer at variable pressures.
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RANKINE CYCLE: THE
IDEAL CYCLE FOR
VAPOR POWER CYCLES
Many of the impracticalities associated with the
Carnot cycle can be eliminated by superheating
the steam in the boiler and condensing it
completely in the condenser.
The cycle that results is the Rankine cycle,
which is the ideal cycle for vapor power plants.
The ideal Rankine cycle does not involve any
internal irreversibilities.

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Energy Analysis of the Ideal Rankine Cycle
Steady-flow energy equation

The thermal efficiency can be interpreted as

the ratio of the area enclosed by the cycle on
a T-s diagram to the area under the heat-
addition process.

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 DEVIATION OF ACTUAL VAPOR POWER
CYCLES FROM IDEALIZED ONES
The actual vapor power cycle differs from the ideal Rankine cycle as a
result of irreversibilities in various components.
Fluid friction and heat loss to the surroundings are the two common
sources of irreversibilities.
Isentropic efficiencies

(a) Deviation of actual vapor power cycle from the ideal Rankine cycle.
(b) The effect of pump and turbine irreversibilities on the ideal Rankine cycle. 7
HOW CAN WE INCREASE THE
EFFICIENCY OF THE RANKINE CYCLE?
The basic idea behind all the modifications to increase the
thermal efficiency of a power cycle is the same:
- Increase the average temperature at which heat is
transferred to the working fluid in the boiler
- Decrease the average temperature at which heat is
rejected from the working fluid in the condenser.

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Lowering the Condenser Pressure (Lowers Tlow,avg)

To take advantage of the

increased efficiencies at low
pressures, the condensers of
steam power plants usually
operate well below the
atmospheric pressure. There is
a lower limit to this pressure
depending on the temperature
of the cooling medium
Side effect: Lowering the
condenser pressure increases
the moisture content of the
steam at the final stages of the
turbine.

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Superheating the Steam to High Temperatures
(Increases Thigh,avg)
Both the net work and heat input
increase as a result of
superheating the steam to a higher
temperature. The overall effect is
an increase in thermal efficiency
since the average temperature at
which heat is added increases.
Superheating to higher
temperatures decreases the
moisture content of the steam at
the turbine exit, which is desirable.
The temperature is limited by
metallurgical considerations.
Presently the highest steam
temperature allowed at the turbine
inlet is about 620°C.
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Increasing the Boiler Pressure (Increases Thigh,avg)
For a fixed turbine inlet
temperature, the cycle shifts to the
left and the moisture content of
steam at the turbine exit increases.
This side effect can be corrected by
reheating the steam.

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Today many modern steam
power plants operate at
supercritical pressures
(P > 22.06 MPa) and have
thermal efficiencies of about
40% for fossil-fuel plants
and 34% for nuclear plants.

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Problem

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 Problem-2
10–19 Consider a 210-MW steam power plant that
operates on a simple ideal Rankine cycle. Steam
enters the turbine at 10 MPa and 500°C and is
cooled in the condenser at a pressure of 10 kPa.
Show the cycle on a T-s diagram with respect to
saturation lines, and determine (a) the quality of the
steam at the turbine exit, (b) the thermal efficiency
of the cycle, and (c) the mass flow rate of the
steam.

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 Problem-3
10–20 Repeat Prob. 10–19 assuming an
isentropic efficiency of 85 percent for both
the turbine and the pump.

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Questions….

• What is the working fluid in the SPP?

• What happens if the condenser is removed?
• What is the efficiency of an actual SPP in India?
• How to improve the efficiency of a SPP?
• What is mean temperature of heat addition
• What is the effect of mean temperature of heat addition
on efficiency of Rankine Cycle

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Reference

Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach

9th Edition in SI Units, Yunus A. Cengel, Michael A. Boles, Mehmet
Kanoglu

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus